Sunday, 28 Sep 2008 - All red lights...

We were headed up to Harrodsburg for the Alpaca Festival on Saturday. Looking forward to something really different, we happened to notice that we hit every red light on the way. Barry at one point suggested that this was some sort of omen. Yeah.

Well, when we got to Shaker Village, we found out that there was a $14 admission per person. NOW we knew why all the red lights... I mean, really, we don't like alpacas THAT much, and the website for the alpaca society didn't say anything about an admission.

Anyway, we decided to go back down to Casey County to check out a cemetery we had noticed on the way back home from the Apple Festival. Come to find out, it's already been recorded and photographed, but since I didn't know the name of the cemetery, I couldn't have known that. A nice young gal told us the info on the cemetery and the neighbors who would probably know more. She was living in a run-down trailer, had a baby and apparently another on the way, was barefoot -- what one might call typical of certain classes of people, but nonetheless, she was polite, friendly, helpful, as people say here, "real naahce" -- unlike some "high class" people. Anyway, meeting her was prologue to the evening...

Back to Danville for lunch at Sutton's (used to be Woody's) for their fried clams only to find out that the ones we want are on the lunch menu Monday through Friday. Today was Saturday. Once more, our plans were tossed into oblivion! One more chance to retrieve the day...

The W T Hill Theatre in Danville opened on Friday night with Danville's own Elizabeth Orndorff''s "Hollerwood". It's about a high class English professor (UK of course) going to a writer's conference, but the conference isn't at Random House in New York, it's in Random, KY at Babe Dean's House. Hence, Random House. The cast is stereotypical eastern Kentucky (or what the rest of the country thinks is ALL of Kentucky), and the laughs are so fast and often, I left with a jaw ache. Even after the scene changes, people were still laughing.

Next, one more play and a variety show. We're going to see a lot of live theatre this year.

Wednesday, 24 Sep 2008 - Catching up

Catching up...

Today, we had the heating/AC guy come today to check out the system to be sure it's working at its peak before cold weather hits in another 2 months or so. Then it was off to Lowe's to price saws (circular and table), but in the end, the gal at the checkout said they'd be able to cut the beveled edges I'll need on the 2x4s for the back deck railing, so we saved at least $50 on THAT stop! Bought a new digital thermostat which I'll install shortly though. So maybe we didn't really SAVE $50 yet. Then it was up to Lawrenceburg -- more on this later.

Now for some past historical events...back in late August, we went over to Bardstown, overnight, because we went to see Stephen Foster-The Musical, and Annie, at My Old Kentucky Home State Park. The Foster production was a third-time visit, and this time it was much better than last year. They do change it a bit each year, and we noticed that. Annie was great, and when one of the characters said, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness," I thought Barry would crack up. I've used the phrase many times, and finally, he got to see where it came from.

While in Bardstown, we did the usual tourist thing. We visited the Kentucky Railway Museum, especially since the Lebanon Branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad used to run through our front yard. We actually got a fantastic private tour of one of the steam engines by one of the guys who was working on its restoration, and got to climb up into the cab, look into the firebox, and play engineer. What a great extra added attraction that was NOT included in the admission price! This engine was the one which carried Al Capone to Sing-Sing (which is just off Interstate-84 in Newburgh/Beacon, NY -- seen it many times), and carried Franklin Delano Roosevelt as well. So it's quite an historic 100 ton piece of iron!

We also ate lunch at Hawk's Place II (great local down-home type of place) and toured the Heaven Hill distillery in Bardstown. Bardstown is the center of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and Heaven Hill is one of the largest distilleries in Kentucky. We learned a great deal about America's native hard liquor, bourbon, and how it is made. After that tour, and touring Maker's Mark in Loretto (near Bardstown), we can see why good Kentucky bourbon is so expensive!

Anyway, Barry's allergies were kicking up a storm in his nose, and the sneezing was beginning to worry me, but like a trooper, he went on anyway. We went into the "rick house" where the bourbon barrels are stored. The alcohol actually evaporates through the wood, or between the slats, and the rick houses are coated with black mold from all that alcohol, and need to be washed or painted on a regular basis. Anyway, to make a long story short, after a great tour, we noticed that Barry wasn't sneezing any more. Could it be that the smell of the alcohol desensitized his nose or something? Hmm, something to investigate, we thought.

A few weeks later, he was up through the night with allergies. So he took a tissue and soaked the tip of it in a bit of bourbon and went back to bed with the tissue on his upper lip. NO allergic reaction! So we have come to the conclusion that instead of taking Claritin or Allegra, nasal inhalation of Kentucky Bourbon has the same medicinal properties at a fraction of the cost with no (unpleasant) side effects; plus you can mix the remainder of the medicine with ginger ale and drink it!

Well, today, we drove up to Lawrenceburg, about 35 miles north of here. Barry wanted to take me to the Kentucky Burgoo Festival this coming Saturday. Now you have to understand that Kentucky has a festival for every imaginable thing under the sun. We're going to the Pleasant Hill (Shakertown) Alpaca Festival this weekend, and the Casey Count Apple Festival is happening all this week. Anyway, burgoo is sort of like a hot (as in chili) beef stew which I really don't like that much, but hey, a festival is a festival, ain't it? So up to Lawrenceburg today to scope out the site.

Wouldn't you know it, we saw signs for "Four Roses" distillery, and the "Wild Turkey" distillery on the way, so off the main road we went, through Lawrenceburg (about half the size of Waterville, but not very economically well-off, at least not the way Danville seems to do well). Took a right downtown, and off to Wild Turkey, for a tour -- we didn't get to see the whole operation because they don't start distilling until tomorrow -- can't do it in the summer because the "moonshine" has to be cooled at 66 degrees and they use Kentucky River water (which we found out first hand when we drove down to a boat landing in the settlement of Tyson is probably 80 degrees now) to do the cooling. But that's now three of the seven major bourbon distilleries we've visited in Kentucky. Four more to go.

Now, we're waiting for the First Monthly Kentucky Fried Clams and Scallops Festival, which we plan to start at Sutton's Restaurant (used to be Woody's, our favorite eating establishment) in Danville, because that's the ONLY place we can find so far in Kentucky to get fried clams or scallops! We hope to make it a monthly event, and to convert all these catfish-loving people into REAL seafood eaters! Then it's off to the Fifth Weekly Kentucky Waltham Buttercup Squash Cookoff Festival (really, just a day in the kitchen cooking some of the squash we grew -- there will be at least 2-3 more of these weekly events).

Other upcoming events over the next month:
1) Casey County Apple Festival, 21-27 Sep
2) Hollerwood, a play at W T Hill Community Theatre in Danville, 27 Sep
3) Alpaca Festival, Shaker Village, 28 Sep
4) Foreigner, also a play, not the 80s rock group, Ragged Edge Theatre, Harrodsburg, 5 Oct
5) Ragged Edge (Harrodsburg) Variety Show, 11 Oct, and finally,
6) Barry's Birthday Present from Rick -- tickets to football in Lexington, University of Kentucky vs University of Arkansas, UK's homecoming game, 18 Oct.

Of course, there's always politics on CNN and the weather on TWC which have both of us glued to the TV now.

There's ALWAYS SOMETHING to do here! Maybe that's why I don't write so much in my blog -- too busy DOING.

Thursday, 18 September -- Getting caught up

Dear Readers: Please note herewith, an actual "Blog" entry. Shame on me for not writing sooner -- I'm SO pleased that SO many of you actually read the drivel I write!

Thursday, Sep 4 - Leaving for Gettysburg
We left Danville early in the morning, drove through central and eastern Kentucky, across West Virginia and almost the whole length of Maryland before turning north towards Gettysburg. Getting off I-81 at Chambersburg, we basically followed the route of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in June 1863, past the Cashtown Hotel (supposed to be VERY haunted), and on to Gettysburg.

After checking into the motel, which was just a few yards from the National Cemetery, we went out to eat. Pizza, but the thickest, most-topping-ist pizza I've ever had. It was great!

Friday, Sep 5 - In Gettysburg
We started at the new Visitor's Center, with an introductory film, "New Birth of Freedom", which basically explained the background to the battle. Then it was off on the "Auto Tour", a 16-stop car trip over about 18 miles, roughly chronological in order. We saw all the most famous sites, especially where the 20th Maine saved Western civilization as we know it. It seems about everyone we met in Gettysburg had heard of Joshua Chamberlain -- I wonder how many in Maine know of him! The kid in the souvenir shop even said that Chamberlain was his idol!

Saturday, Sep 6 - Leaving for Maine
Early morning rise, then off through the remnants of Hurricane Hanna, through Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and finally into Maine. We arrived in Oakland about 9PM, and moved in, lock, stock and barrel, to a camp on McGrath Pond which we had rented for the week, just 4 doors down from Alison and Glenn.

Sunday, Sep 7 - Maureen visits, and a swim
Got to see my daughter (and soon-to-be-grandson) for the first time since I found out I was going to be a grand-daddy. A nice visit, too short of course, but good. Went for a swim later, the first time I've been swimming in a Maine lake since summer 2004 and only the second time in 22 years!

Monday, Sep 8 - Moxie and Ming Lee
I think it was Monday we went to Hannaford's and bought Moxie. We had checked at Wal-Mart, but they didn't stock it since Moxie has changed its UPC and the Wal-Mart computer doesn't recognize the new code. Luckily, we talked to the Coke distributor who told us that Hannaford and Shaws would both have Moxie. So off we went. A 12-pack of cans, and 12 2-litre bottles are going back to Kentucky with us! The nearest place to buy it here is about 200 miles north in Indiana.

That evening saw Alison, Eisa, Pushpa, Barry and me, eating the best Chinese food this side of Beijing (or maybe even there). Mei came over and asked if we were moving back to Maine. We asked her when she was opening up a branch restaurant in Danville!

Tuesday, Sep 9 - We visit Barry's family
Lobster, lobster, lobster. It was great to see Bruce and Shirley at Carol's house. Barry had his fill of lobster (well, maybe not, but he had to stop at some point), which was one of the main points of going to Maine. Yes, Shirley, I promise to keep the blog up more regularly!

Wednesday, Sep 10 - Lincolnville Beach
Nice drive down to Belfast, then down the coast to Lincolnville and the Lobster Pound. I had the baked scallops and Barry had the fried clams -- arguably the best on the coast! Two years ago, we planned to go down in early October, but we got there and found they had closed for the season. Bummer. This time, we called first.

Then off to Camden, where we played "tourist." We stopped for some great Gifford's ice cream, bought a post card and mailed it to Melissa, our realtor here in Danville, and walked up Main Street along with all the other "out-of-staters". I guess we could be considered "flatlanders" now. Maybe you can take the boys out of Maine, but you can't take Maine out of the boys though. Bought some blueberry jam, some balsam potpourri, and a Maine lighthouse calendar -- you know, all the things that tourists buy!

Thursday, Sep 11 - Margarita's, Eisa's new condo, college discussion and pizza
Barry got a coupon in the mail for $10 off at Margarita's during his birthday month. So of course, to save $10, we drove to Maine! Well, we were going to be here anyway, so we hopped down to Augusta for some good Mexican food. We have several good Mexican restaurants here that compare well with Margaritas, but it was still a nice treat.

Then in the afternoon, we drove over to Winslow to see Eisa's new condo (she should have moved in by now). We couldn't get in as she didn't have the key, but it really looks great. Eisa, hope you'll like it as much as you seem to!

After that, Barry's granddaughter came down, and I interviewed her regarding her preferences on college -- where she would like to go to school, large city, small town, etc., so we can help her choose the right college. She's taking a monster class load at Messalonskee this year, and with the grades she gets, she should be very competitive when it comes time to apply.

We then went to Barry's daughter's house to see the whole family, and we all pigged out on Korner Store pizza. It's sometimes greasy, but this time it was great! Plus we got to see the family too.

Friday, Sep 12 - Kayaking, visiting school, digging plants
Glenn took us kayaking this morning. Barry took the canoe, and I used Alison's "sit-on" kayak. GREAT! I want one! I need one! I have to find water on which to use one!

I went to school later, and saw loads of people -- I won't try to name you all, but especially important was thanking Blair personally for all the help he was last summer. You are all such good people and I miss you all!

Brenda, I didn't get a chance to talk one-on-one with you, so please continue to email me.

In the afternoon, we went to Waterville to my house, and dug up some plants which we were unable to bring down last summer. It may seem ridiculous to some, but some of these plants have personal or sentimental value, and we wanted them down here with us. For example, my mother's Bridal Wreath, which grew in Westbrook in 1953, came to Oakland about 1987, then to Waterville in 2005. Part of it is now down here. Hope it makes it, but if not, there's more back in Waterville.

Saturday, Sep 13 - Leaving Maine
We left Maine early in the morning, going by way of Ithaca, NY. I wanted Barry to see where Maureen went to college, so we took I-90 along the Mass Pike and the NY Thruway, through Albany, Utica, and Syracuse, then down I-81 past Syracuse University, where Maureen applied and was accepted. Overland to Ithaca to see Cornell and Ithaca College, then a stop at Wegman's -- the largest grocery store in the world, or at least the largest I've ever been in! Back on the road to Binghamton, and south through rain to Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Maureen, there's a huge new Park building near the Park School of Communications -- I have no real idea what it's for -- and another under construction right at the rotary near the main campus entrance. Rowland Hall is still there, as is the Towers dining hall though.

Sunday, Sep 14 - Home
What a ride! The remnants of Hurricane Ike were passing to the west and north, but nonetheless, we got a dose of his wind. Going through central and western Pennsylvania was no problem. Stopping at McDonald's in Hermitage, PA WAS. The laziest staff, the worst service, the worst food, we've ever had at a McDonald's. SO bad, we called the "How are we doing" number on the cup and filed a complaint!

Once we got into Ohio, Youngstown and Akron were no problem. But as we approached Columbus, the wind began to come up. Before we reached Cincinnati, we saw (1) a metal roof being peeled off a barn; (2) plywood blown down onto the road from an under-construction overpass; (3) corn leaves flying through the air like in the Wizard of Oz; (4) dust obscuring visibility -- we thought it was rain; (5) power out at 2 rest areas (and too dangerous to "go" in the woods), and the wind blowing branches off trees; (6) many large trees broken and shredded; and (7) at times my truck being unable to go any faster than 40 mph in 3rd gear on a flat surface into the wind.

We didn't really notice the worst though. Driving through Cincinnati at dusk was weird because the city was dark. In fact, the power was out from about 70 miles north to about 30 miles south of Cincy. We heard that 500,000 customers were out, and another 300,000 out in Louisville (it's now Thursday and many are still out). We stopped for gas in northern Kentucky, but without power, pumps weren't working; so we continued south until we saw a station that DID have electricity. They were MOBBED! The traffic signals throughout Cincy and northern Kentucky were out, and drivers were told to treat every intersection as a 4-way stop. Surprisingly, they did as far as we could see.

When we got home, we hadn't lost the power at all! No digital clocks were blinking 00:00. The lemon trees on the back deck were tipped over, and we had a few twigs on the ground. Not bad though, considering that parts of Kentucky had 80 mph gusts, and we apparently had one close to 70 here.

It'll take us awhile to finish unpacking and to get the plants in the ground. The good news is that they still have at least another month to grow, and their root systems can continue to take hold all winter -- the ground freezes maybe 2 inches for a couple of days at a time, so people down here often plant trees in the fall.

Well, that's our trip to Maine in a nutshell. Now I need to write about what has happened here since early July -- VERY busy which is what I'll use as an excuse for not writing more often!

Saturday, 19 July 2008 - It's been a year!

Just a quickie tonight. It's been one full year since we moved into the Butchertown house. So much has happened, I can't recall all of it, which is why this blog is nice.

We went out to one of our favorite restaurants, Guadalahara, for a mini-celebration. Our first favorite, Woody's, has closed due to the economy.

We're looking at coming back up to Maine shortly after Labor Day. We will plan to take my truck because we have some things we want to bring back from Maine -- notably cases and cases of Moxie, and pounds and pounds of red Jordan's hot dogs. It will be significantly cheaper to drive than to fly, especially when two of us can split the expenses.

Anyone know of a lakeside camp we can rent for a week at ridiculously low off-season prices?

Friday, 11 July 2008 - Another Great Performance

Last night, we went to Pioneer Playhouse's third production of the season, "Death By Darkness." We missed the second one, but this was one not to be missed. It's a murder thriller, with comedic interludes, set in Mammoth Cave, KY in 1842. The lead is the slave tourguide, Stephen Bishop, and the cast is a group of misfits and miscreants, said to have included the great Charles Dickens, though Dickens never wrote anything about visiting the cave.

The play was written by a local Danville playwright, and the acting was as good as the play. Unusually, the slave, Bishop, actually takes over many scenes, and ends up as he begins, the main character.

Local reviews are here...

Award-winning work by Kentucky playwright next up at Pioneer Playhouse

REVIEW: 'Death By Darkness' is deliciously devious

Next up is Stephen Sondheim's, "Into The Woods" at the Hill Theatre in Danville. We're sure getting our fill of good theater here!

Friday, 27 June 2008 - Great Smoky Mountains and Knoxville, TN

Friday, 27 June 2008.

We were picked up at home by Enterprise car rental (remember, "We'll pick you up"?), and headed south to Knoxville. Got there in about 3-1/2 hours (just about like Waterville to Boston, which we've done MANY times), would have been 3 but there was apparently a major accident ahead of us, just over the line in Tennessee. After check-in at the motel, we spent some time becoming familiar with Knoxville, the third largest city in Tennessee, and home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, as well as the site of the 1982 World’s Fair. It’s not a difficult city to get around, but the ongoing Interstate-40 construction downtown could get confusing.

Tennessee has three regions, hence the three stars on the state flag -- East Tennessee (capital at Knoxville), Central Tennessee (capital at Nashville) and West Tennessee or "The (Jackson) Purchase" (capital at Memphis). The regions are still part of Tennessee law today, in that the state supreme court must meet in each of the three cities in rotation, and no state commission or group can have a majority of its members from any one of the regions!

Dinner was at Naples restaurant, a nice, somewhat upscale Italian restaurant, only about a mile from our motel. The food was very good, and the price was quite reasonable. We'd recommend it to anyone who likes good Italian in a comfortable atmosphere.

Saturday, 28 June 2008.

Got up, went to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. These doughnuts, which President Bill Clinton made famous, were actually invented in Kentucky, but the inventor began marketing them in North Carolina, and they spread all over the South after that. When the red light outside the building is on, it means the doughnuts are fresh and hot. At this one, the light was on 24/7 apparently. We don't know where in Kentucky we can get them hot and totally fresh.

Then we headed south to a lesser-used entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We went first to a former settlement in the park called Cades Cove. There used to be several hundred people in this valley area between the mountains, but after the park was organized, they either moved away or were bought out.

One of the oldest buildings left in the park was the log cabin built by John Oliver in the early 1800’s. It’s quite typical of the cabins people lived in until the end of the 19th Century, when frame buildings became more common. It looked as if the settlement was totally cut off from the rest of the world, but we understand that was NOT the case. It was a cash economy, and people came into the mountains and left, and traded back and forth much as was done in the rest of the South at the time. Check out http://www.lib.utk.edu/refs/smokies for more info here.

At least three churches (and three cemeteries) were in the valley, and we stopped and took pictures of some of the stones at the Methodist Church. Many of the burials have been made since the park was officially created in 1940, and some families still have regular reunions there.

After leaving Cades Cove, we drove to the north, and main entrance to the park, Sugarlands Visitor’s center, for a quick break, then headed south across the park toward North Carolina. We were going to drive up to Clingman’s Dome, one of the highest elevations in the eastern US, but gas was short, and we didn’t want to run out, so we passed on the Dome and headed straight for the south entrance at Cherokee, NC.

Cherokee was a bitter-sweet place. It does try to preserve the Cherokee language, which was invented by the great chief Sequoyah, and many signs are bi-lingual. The Cherokee were one of the first tribes to try to assimilate with the westward-moving Europeans, adopting European style clothing, housing, customs, and laws. But that wasn't enough. When gold was discovered in northern Georgia (only a few miles away as the crow flies), US President Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, ordered the removal of the Cherokee from the land. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Cherokee, that Jackson had no power to do that, to which Jackson replied, "Marshall has made his ruling; now let him enforce it." Thus the Cherokee and several other tribes were forcibly marched hundreds of miles to end up ultimately in Oklahoma. Many passed through Kentucky, and over in the western part of the state there is a memorial to the "Trail of Tears" which passed through this state.

However, a few Cherokee remained behind, sheltered by the Great Smoky Mountains, from the American government. This small core was the beginning of the "Eastern Cherokee" band.

In any event, Cherokee is a thriving tourist community today, where visitors can buy all sorts of "Indian" items like moccasins, jewelry, ice cream, and other truly native souvenirs. Unfortunately, most of the "stuff" says, "Made in China" on it. There's even one man at the entrance of the tourist shopping area who sits in a plywood tee-pee with a full headdress, with a sign outside saying, "Take a picture with me. Tips appreciated." Just what the ignorant tourist expects "Indians" to be like. Most people don't know that the Cherokee never lived in tee-pees, let alone plywood ones, and never wore full headdresses of feathers. Hollywood falsely has taught us that the Lakota Sioux apparently are typical of ALL Native Americans! How ignorant we are! I was able to control myself however, until we got gas ($4.04 a gallon for the first time) and headed back into the Park.

About halfway back to Sugarlands, we took a left, and drove seven miles across the crest of the Appalachian Mountains, along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. On the way, we noticed the pink rhododendrons which are one of the showpieces of this park. They grow wild and natural, in both pink and white, the pink mostly at higher elevations, and blossoming later in the year than the white.

Once there, we walked another half mile, uphill, toward Clingman's Dome. The view on the walk up was awesome, and at the top, there's a curved ramp up to an observation platform where one used to be able to see 100 miles. Due to air pollution nowadays, much over 25 is quite good. By the way, they are called the "smoky" mountains because of the interaction between sunlight and decaying vegetation in the deep forest; the "smoke" rises up, but usually disappears by mid-day. Clingman's Dome, at 6653 feet high, is like Mt. Katahdin with the Empire State Building on top of Baxter Peak. We were actually 2000 feet HIGHER than the top of Sugarloaf USA, and 355 feet higher than Mt Washington, NH.

On the way back to Knoxville from Clingman's Dome, we stopped at Newfound Gap, where the TN/NC border and the Appalachian Trail all come together. Incidentally, this is the spot where President Franklin D Roosevelt dedicated the park in the fall of 1940. A monument stands on the site, just to the right of where the photo of Barry was taken. Newfound Gap is at an elevation of "only" 5,000 feet, so it really is a "gap" in the mountains, though not a very big one. It's STILL high!

I took the picture of "Katahdin Maine" just to impress us with how FAR we were from the rooftop of Maine! Loads of good photos can be had right here. For those of you who haven't been this far south, I'd say a nice drive through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, would be about as close as you could get to the Great Smokies. Interestingly enough though, there is no "tree line" here, as the temperatures in the winter are still warm enough to support plant growth, unlike the tops of many New England peaks.

We drove through the rest of the park, northbound, and exited about dusk. What a total turnabout! From a wild, isolated, natural park, to Gatlinburg. This place is like a hilly Old Orchard Beach on a Saturday summer night, only without the beach! It's said there are something like 13,000 hotel rooms in a town of 3,000! And walking along the main street was worse than walking down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan! If you want tourist heaven, head for downtown Gatlinburg.

In fact, our destination WAS downtown, the Hard Rock Cafe at Gatlinburg. Yup, we're HRC junkies, having visited now between us, Boston MA, Montreal QC, New York NY, Washington DC, Louisville KY, St Louis MO, Cancun MX and Cozumel MX. HRC Cozumel is the world's smallest, but I'll bet Gatlinburg is the smallest city that has its own HRC! The restaurant is actually located on AND over the Little Pigeon River, which a bit downstream hosts the city of Pigeon Forge, made famous by Dolly Parton. As usual, the atmosphere alternates between casual and relaxing, and frenetic, but always fun and enjoyable. And we picked up two new t-shirts to add to our collection.

After a long but great day, we headed north through Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and back to Knoxville. Tomorrow's another day.

Sunday, 29 June 2008.

This day was Knoxville's turn to shine, even though the weather wasn't going to. We started out again at Krispy Kreme, and the rest of the day's highlights included the site of the 1982 World's Fair, the University of Tennessee Botanical Garden, and a great meal on an outdoor deck over the river.

The World's Fair has only left a few permanent reminders in Knoxville. One is the "Sunsphere," an 266 foot tall tower with an observation area about 200 feet up. From there one could see all the way to the Great Smokies, as well as all around Knoxville, the Tennessee River, and the University. The fair introduced the world to "Rubik's Cube" and the hotel at the site has the world's largest cube!

After the fair, we drove down to the riverfront, and walked along "Volunteer Landing", a riverfront park on the Tennessee River, obviously! It was great to get out and walk and sight see after yesterday's touring mostly by car. We were also killing time until the UT event, but it was nice and relaxing, as well as good exercise.

The UT Gardens were having a plant display, fair, sale, whatever you want to call it. Anyway, we browsed for several hours, looking at plants that would grow in Kentucky as well as in Tennessee, asking questions, taking pictures, and in general, enjoying the event. We did buy three antique Iris plants and a new variety of Rudbeckia (looks like black-eyed susans), so we'll have a permanent souvenir of our trip to Knoxville.

After that, we went back to the motel room to rest a bit and recharge before dinner, which was a healthy beef tenderloin salad with house cheddar dressing. It was a huge portion, and the beef was flavorful and (as we have come to expect here in the South, tender). Surprisingly, we were able to fit back into the car after dinner, which ended about 9:30 PM, just as it was getting dark.

Monday, 30 June 2008.

Back to Danville. First to Krispy Kreme for a dozen to take home, than back up I-75, US-150 and KY-300 home! We had to get the rental car back by 12:00 noon, and we actually walked into the place at 11:58 (though I think we could have brought it back by 1PM since we didn't get picked up and on the road until 1PM on Friday.

It's taken me this long to get the photos off the cameras, put them together, and write my blog -- 'cause we headed for Paducah on Thursday, 3 July, and just got back this afternoon! The cat has practically forgotten who we are, but we'll get reacquainted quickly, I'm sure. Photos of Elizabeth Rose are yet to come, but will have to wait until the next blog, which will NOT take as long to get to as this has!

Wednesday, 18 June - Ugly and beautiful

Contrasts again. Ugly v. Beautiful.

First the ugly. For weeks now, Barry has had a feeling (his intuition is flawless) that something wasn't right with our septic system. Well, finally he called a guy up in Harrodsburg to come take a look and pump out the tank. Barry dug down to the cover, which we could quite easily locate because the former owner had put some cement tiles over it. Anyway, the septic guy came yesterday morning just after 8 AM. When he took the cover off, he discovered that we were getting ready for a major back-up in the system. Luckily, we caught it in time. So for $110, we're all set with septic stuff for another 3-5 years. Barry had planted nasturtiums (Maureen, inside joke here?) and we just planted a crimson day lily over the cover so we'll know where it is next time.

The septic guy suggested that we should (1) put no fat or grease down the system; and (2) put no toilet paper in the system. OK, the fat part I can see. But we did some research -- (ain't the Internet great?) It seems that there are absolute horror stories out there about "log-jammed toilet paper" coming out of the pipe from people who use non-septic-friendly paper. Seems that Scott Tissue 1000 is the best to use. Charmin or Cottonelle and other 2-ply brands don't break down in the system the way Scott does, and they can do great damage (and expensive repairs) in a very short time.

So the good news, we dodged a $5000+ repair bill by weeks or even days; and we're already using the "correct" TP.

Oh, and what did he suggest we DO with the TP if not flushing? Put it in a bag and burn it. Yeah, likely, huh? But then again, most people around here still have the 55-gallon oil drums in which they burn much of their trash, so I guess some people DO burn their TP. Can't see residents of those $350,000 McMansions doing that though!

The garden continues to grow. We've pulled the rest of the collard greens and most of the broccoli, and thinned the beets, ready for the final harvest of those red globes. We should be able to get in another crop of most things, since we have about four more months of growing season, and some crops can even be planted to harvest after first frost, like Brussels Sprouts and parsnips.

Now for the "Beautiful." When we moved here in February, we had absolutely no idea of what was growing in the flower beds. We've since identified some planted items, and some wild items, but there are still unidentified plants, probably wildflowers with which we are not familiar. Anyway, out by where the previous owner had put an oak half-barrel, there was a trumpet lily which has just come out. Neither of us have ever seen SO many buds on this beautiful lily, and in fact the only place I have seen it other than nurseries and Wal-Mart, is in church on Easter Sunday.

Enjoy!

Sunday, June 15 - Hot Brass and Hot Air

Day Two of the Great American Brass Band Festival was absolutely perfect. We went into Danville, to Centre College and the main stage, just in time to hear the Advocate Brass Band play. This is the band, started by a former editor of the local newspaper, the Advocate-Messenger, 21 years ago. Two years later, they organized the festival, which today draws between 30,000 and 40,000 people to Danville for three days. It must contribute millions to the local economy, what with people buying souvenirs, and shopping, eating, and staying locally, and buying gas to get home again.

We stayed, under nearly cloudless skies with temperatures in the upper 80s, to hear the Advocate Brass Band as well as the US Air Force Reserve Band, for two hours of great music. The entire audience got to its feet as the Advocate band played "Stars and Stripes Forever" -- a perennial favorite, and basic to the repertoire of any band which would even CALL itself a brass band.

When the Air Force band came on, they began with the National Anthem, which was done beautifully. They played some marches, overtures, show tunes, and ended with a medley of military service songs -- as each song was played, the colonel/director asked members of that service to stand and be recognized. They passed through the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, and of course, the Air Force. I was surprised at how many women stood!

We left as they finished, and because we had parked only two blocks away, were able to get out of town quickly. We stopped at Arby's, then a quick trip to Wal-Mart to buy a new memory chip for my camera, as I had nearly filled the chip I had brought.

Then we headed for the Great American Brass Band Balloon Race, down in Junction City (about 3 miles from here), at the county airport. Here it was really hot because of the openness of the airport. They don't plant trees along the runway for shade. Anyway, what a thrill to see 25 multicolored hot air balloons be assembled, fired up, and rising above the crowd. The race was a "hound and hare" race, where the lead balloon lifts off, and somewhat later, touches down, painting a large "X" wherever they land. The other balloons have to try to get as close to the "X" as they can, dropping a bag of (most appropriately) Kentucky Blue Grass seed. The record a couple of years ago, was 13 INCHES from the target.

Well, 'twas not to be this year. The lead balloon headed west toward Stanford, and as the other balloons inflated and launched -- ABSOLUTELY STUNNINGLY MAGNIFICENT SIGHT -- the wind shifted. We heard about half an hour later that no one even came close to finding the touch-down point! So the prize money was simply going to be divided among all the participants.

I can't tell you some of the words I was thinking to describe this scene, but it was one of the most thrilling and beautiful scenes I've ever witnessed! The weather was absolutely summer-perfect, and it was a fantastic time.



Oh, I forgot to mention -- the memory chip from Wal-Mart -- wrong size. So back to Wally World after the race to exchange. I fill up the chip quickly when I take video, so for our upcoming trip to Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains, I'm going to bring the actual, honest to goodness video camera!

Also need to mention that we picked up 2 gallons of milk for $5.00. There's no milk commission here to keep prices artificially high, and Kroger's was selling it at that price, so Wal-Mart matched it.

We're totally exhausted now after being on the go since Friday night. Tomorrow have to get back to W-M to pick up the lawn tractor so we can mow -- haven't done that for 2 weeks and it's beginning to get ragged. What a great Father's Day weekend -- with both of us either JUST getting or anticipating a new grandchild!

Saturday, 14 June, 2008 - Brass Bands and History

The Great American Brass Band Festival -- Danville's biggest event of the year -- should have begun for us last night with the Hot Air Balloon races. Unfortunately, we were under a severe thunderstorm warning, and smart people don't go up in hot air balloons during a thunderstorm. So it was postponed until Sunday night, same time, same place, at the Junction City "International" Airport.

Today was the day of the bands. There were easily over 20 different brass bands, brass quintets, bagpipe bands, and other combinations of brass instruments playing in 4 different venues, all within easy walking distance of the new downtown parking garage, where we smartly chose to park. The day really began with the parade, down Main Street to Centre College. The parade had the usual Shriner's mini-vehicles, firetrucks and the mayors of area cities and other political types. But many of the bands which were playing around town were also in it.


We watched the parade then wandered down to Centre College, only about 6 blocks away, where the main stage was set up, and where there were street vendors selling everything from blackened Louisiana catfish to funnel cakes, and everything in between. We got a pulled pork sandwich and a glass of "sweet tea." "Sweet tea" is common around here -- really nothing more than already-sweetened iced tea, but it saves the trouble of adding sugar. Even McDonald's advertises it here. We wandered around the campus for a bit, and got our first close-up look at "Old Centre," the original college building, built about 1820. Today it houses admissions and, I think, administrative offices. More on Centre later.

The band that was playing shortly after we got to the main stage was the Eastern Kentucky University brass quintet. They played some modern classical (if there is such a thing) music, and were very nice. Not what I was hoping to hear, but good nonetheless. Then along came the Excelsior Cornet Band. Hailing from Syracuse, NY, the Brass Band Festival is their only performance this year out of New York State. They play original arrangements of Civil War era music, on original instruments, some nearly 200 years old. THIS is what a brass band used to sound like in the 19th Century. Later I bought their CD, and we've already listened to it. It's great!

At 4 PM, in Weisiger Park in front of the Boyle County Courthouse, there was a four-person presentation dealing with Lincoln's connections with Danville, accompanied by a renewed Kentucky brass band, the Saxton Cornet Band, active from about 1840 to about 1900. After Lincoln moved to Illinois, he met John Todd Stuart, Centre graduate, 1826, who convinced him to go into the law and lent him a set of law books. The rest, as they say, is history. Stuart introduced Lincoln to his cousin, Mary Todd, whom Lincoln eventually married. After Lincoln's assassination, it was Stuart who spearheaded the group that erected the Lincoln monument in Springfield, IL.

Incidentally, Lincoln ran for president in 1860 against three others, one of whom was 1839 Centre graduate, John C Breckinridge, and of course opposed Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, also Kentucky-born. Much mention was made of Mr. Justice John Marshall Harlan, of the US Supreme Court, Centre, 1852, and native of Danville. In the great case of Plessy v Ferguson, Harlan, of a slave-owning family, dissented in an 8-1 decision upholding segregation as the law of the land. Harlan said in 1896 that the Constitution was "color-blind" and that segregation was inherently unequal. It took 60 years for the Supreme Court to realize that Harlan was right, in Brown v Board of Education in 1954, a case that was brought to the court by Mr. Chief Justice Frederick Vinson, Centre, 1912. Beginning after he died in 1953, Centre College's opening football game always reserves a seat for Vinson's portrait, known as "Dead Fred." So he's never missed an opening game since his death!

All in all, it was a great day, with lots of good music and good history, and you KNOW how I love music and history! Tomorrow, more bands and some balloons! The camera is charged and the memory stick is cleared for take-off!

Thursday, 12 June 2008 - Outdoor theater in the Bluegrass

Tuesday evening, the 10th, we went to the first outdoor theater in Kentucky, Pioneer Playhouse, to see "Leading Ladies." It's a Shakespearian-type farce about two actors who impersonate a rich woman's nieces in order to gain her inheritance. Funny, great audience participation, good acting. Pioneer Playhouse was founded 59 years ago as a small, local theater. Over the years, it has hosted such actors as John Travolta and Lee Majors (who got their starts here), and many others as well. It was host to Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Lee Marvin and Eva Marie Saint when the movie Raintree County was filmed in Danville. The current director, Robbie Henson, son of the founder, Eben Henson, auditions talent in New York in the winter and spring, and brings the ensemble cast to Danville for the summer. If you know of anyone who would be interested in spending a summer in Danville, honing the acting craft, tell him/her about this great opportunity. Not much money, but 10 weeks of acting experience in the Bluegrass.

One of the next plays there, "Death by Darkness," is a murder mystery about Charles Dickens's supposed visit to Mammoth Cave. It was based on a local legend, and written by a Danville native. Can't wait to see that one!

On the grounds of the theater, Eben Henson has recreated his version of a pioneer village. Frankly, it's interesting, but not too accurate, except for the log cabin on site. The cabin originally came from the Forkland community (only a few miles from here), and was used in the filming of Robby Henson's Pharoah's Army, in 1995, then it was dismantled and moved piece by piece to Pioneer Playhouse. Just because it is a real log cabin, it IS an accurate version of a typical Kentucky log cabin of period from 1774 through the mid 1800's, and later in some parts of the state. Many of these were simply added onto, or covered over, and actually serve as the physical basis for many present-day houses in Kentucky.

We were told a story when we were living in Butchertown, that Kris Kristofferson, one of the stars, was jogging down Butchertown Road when one of our neighbors offered him a ride.

Inside pictures show exactly how sparse living conditions were. These people didn't have much, yet they managed to survive and build communities, cities, and a state, out of what was then wilderness. One wonders how people today would fare under these circumstances.

The log cabin in which Lincoln was born would have looked very much like this one, unlike the "replica" that is located inside the "temple" at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace memorial. That building is made up of logs from dozens of Kentucky cabins, simply assembled to "look like" the Lincoln cabin. The one at Pioneer Playhouse could well have been the cabin in which Lincoln's step-grandmother lived.